


Sweet dreams, Kazuhira

by Undead



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 11:43:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12035169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Undead/pseuds/Undead
Summary: Snake sighs, glances to the side and his brow rises in surprise. Kaz is lying on his, Snake’s, bed.





	Sweet dreams, Kazuhira

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my dears: [bipalium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bipalium/pseuds/bipalium) for help with the translation and [Kawaiibooker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kawaiibooker/pseuds/Kawaiibooker) for beta-reading! Please check their fics, they're amazing c:

Twilight prevails in their shared room, the only source of light is a dull desk lamp turned to the wall that barely illuminates the permanent pile of documents on the table. Snake halts in the doorway, allowing his eyes to adjust: the halls of Mother Base are always bathed in white light, and compared to them the room seems to be almost completely submerged in darkness, save for a light rectangular by his feet and a yellowish circle on the wall.  
It’s quiet inside. Snake carefully shuts the door, the lock clicks softly – Kaz must've waited for him but ended up falling asleep, deciding to delay all small talk and reports for the next morning. Snake leans onto the door with his back, peering into the dark. Usually, when Kaz stays up late there’s a radio station that can still be received, this far out in the Caribbean. He says music helps him to stay vigilant, but Snake has been repeatedly catching him knocked out, head lowered on his arms next to the playing receiver.  
However, Kaz’s bed appears to be empty. Snake narrows his eyes, taking a closer look and double checking for the absent shape of a body. Where is he, this late? Kaz is a good soldier and understands orders from the get-go, hence after the sauna incident he hasn’t slept with MSF personnel, and there hasn't really been anyone else since they'd got this Base in the sea.  
Snake sighs, glances to the side and his brow rises in surprise. Kaz is lying on his, Snake’s, bed. He is sleeping, curled up on top of the blanket, one leg touching the floor – fully dressed, he didn't even care enough to take off his boots. His aviators have gone askew and slid to the tip of his nose, his always foppishly styled hair has become a mess and fallen to his face. The corners of Snake's mouth quiver, the hint of a smile, when he notices how Kaz is gripping the blanket in his sleep. He looks so unfamiliarly fragile and vulnerable in that faint orange light, and it awakens a long-forgotten tenderness in Snake.  
He soundlessly approaches the bed and sits down – the yielding of the mattress doesn't stir Kaz awake, and Snake wants to believe that it's because Kaz has got used to his presence and subconsciously trusts him, not because he overworked himself to death again.  
Snake gingerly removes the shades from his nose and places them on the desk so Kaz can easily reach them in the morning. In the dusk, the shadows of exhaustion below his eyes are even more evident. Come to think of it, Kaz works the hardest here. Not only the daily routine of soldiers, training and codec support is a part of his job, but almost all the paperwork, all those documents, contracts, bills – everything what allows this place to function successfully; moreover, there’s external communication, the search for job requests and all the other formalities. It must be hard to single-handedly maintain a hold upon such a grand organization as MSF, and they aren’t even half of the army Kaz dreams of.  
Snake’s fingers gently trace Kaz’s cheek, brushing his hair from his face; his calloused skin hardly senses this light touch, but Kaz's eyelashes flutter even though he doesn't wake up. With a thumb, Snake outlines his parted lips, trails the arc of his jaw and his high cheekbone.  
“Kaz,” he calls quietly. “You need to take off your clothes.”  
“…Snake?”  
Kaz blinks, barely awake, instinctively reaches for his hand, nestling his cheek into Snake’s palm. He smiles drowsily and almost apologetically.  
“Sorry, I wasn’t going to... Just relaxed for a second and... Wait. I thought you’d return in the morning.”  
He slowly sits up in bed, then shoots off to return to his own bunk, but Snake stops him.  
“No need. Just take your clothes off.”  
“Snake…?”  
Kaz stares at him in confusion, not sure what he means, and Snake sighs again, softly pries up a lopsided knot of the ever-present yellow scarf, easing it.  
“Stay.”  
Bewilderment lingers on Kaz's face for a brief moment, but almost outright he relaxes and slightly smiles back, nodding and starting to unbutton his twisted shirt.  
They undress in comfortable silence that Snake interrupts, crawling onto the bed next to the wall and pulling Kaz closer to himself, then covers them with a blanket.  
“How was your day?”  
Kaz smirks, cuddling up to Snake’s broad chest with his back, snugly nesting in his arms. He feels a steady beat of Snake’s heart – it soothes him, he feels safe and cherished.  
“You mean what I got up to when I wasn't on the line with you?”  
Snake makes a mumbling sound, agreeing. He nuzzles Kaz’s hair and freezes like this, breathing in his scent, and that feeling is the closest to the cliched 'home' among all Snake can remember.  
Kaz feels for his hand and cups it with his own.  
“Like always. Worked with new recruits, picked the best deals, reviewed some papers. There’s never enough time to sort them all out, you know.”  
Snake quietly chuckles and kisses a prominent curve of Kaz's neck.  
“I do. Sorry.”  
His scratchy beard tickles Kaz’s sensitive skin, sending pleasant shivers down his spine. He smells of tobacco and soap – he must’ve hit the showers right after his return, and only then went to their quarters.  
Kaz turns and dips his hand into Snake’s hair, letting the strands glide through his fingers – right, they’re still damp – and stays like this, petting the hair on Snake’s nape.  
“I missed you,” he exhales, barely audible, and Snake smiles at him in the dark.  
“It’s been only four days.”  
“I know, just...”  
Snake doesn’t let him finish. He doesn’t really want to tease Kaz now, so unvarnished, without his usual shield of jaunty cockiness. Snake brushes his lips against Kaz’s forehead and answers, honestly:  
“Me too.”  
For a moment, Kaz falters, but then softly pushes the back of his head, making Snake lean in, and kisses him. Snake's kiss tastes like toothpaste.  
They fall asleep, facing each other. Kaz presses his forehead to Snake’s shoulder, hugging him as if trying to take cover, and Snake covers him, holding in a delicate embrace the one who makes him feel at peace for the first time in a decade.

***  
Kaz wakes up from the sun that blinds him even through closed eyelids. Without opening his eyes, he reaches out for the shades on his desk, but there are no shades, no desk, and no hand.


End file.
